Off the wire

By Democrat-Gazette Press Services

Posted: April 10, 2013 at 3:28 a.m.

FOOTBALL Jenkins joins Raiders The Oakland Raiders signed former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins on Tuesday to team with the recently signed Tracy Porter and add experience to an untested secondary. Oakland also signed free agent safety Usama Young and brought back free agent defensive end Andre Carter and cornerback Joselio Hanson for their second seasons with the team. Before these latest additions of former starters in the NFL, the other cornerbacks on the Raiders roster had a combined four career starts. Jenkins entered the league in 2008 as a first-round pick out of South Florida. He emerged as one of the league’s best cornerbacks in his second year when he had the five interceptions, 19 passes defensed, held opposing receivers to catches on less than half the balls thrown his direction and made the Pro Bowl. But since then, Jenkins struggled in coverage and eventually lost his starting job with the Cowboys. Over the past three seasons, Jenkins has allowed quarterbacks to complete 61.8 percent of